1. Solar System

2. The Solar System: a star and all of the objects that travel around it — planets, moons, asteroids, comets and meteoroids

3. How did it form?

4. Sort pictures in order https://www.yout

5. Actual D F C A E B

6. Solar System to Scale (for size)

7. People used to think the solar system was Geocentric (Earth Centered)
Early Greeks created this model
Problems with it included retrograde motion of planets (a figure 8 path)

8. Later observations confirmed the Heliocentric Model (Sun Centered)
Described in 1543 by Copernicus
Confirmed by Galileo using his telescope to observe Venus

10. The force of gravity from the sun holds our solar system together.
The larger an object’s mass, the greater its gravitational force.

11. The Sun contains 99.86% of all the Solar System’s mass.

12. Planets closer to the Sun orbit the Sun FASTER than planets farther from the Sun.

13. Which planet in each pair takes longer to orbit the Sun?
Neptune or Jupiter?
Mars or Earth?
Venus or Mercury?
Uranus or Saturn?
Pluto takes 248 years to complete one orbit!

14. What makes something a planet?
Requirements to be qualified as a planet:
Must orbit the star (sun)
Must be large enough to have its own gravity pull it into a sphere
Must have a clear path around the sun (no smaller objects in its way)

15. The Inner Planets

16. The Inner Planets
Small in size
Solid/rocky

17. Mercury Has no atmosphere due to
low gravitational pull (it’s the smallest planet)
high daytime temperatures (2nd hottest planet)
solar winds blast away any remaining gasses

18. Venus The solar system’s warmest planet
Heat is trapped due to the intense greenhouse effect due to the thick atmosphere.
Temperatures average 460 degrees C on Venus

19. Greenhouse Effect

20. Image of Maat Mons- the highest volcano on Venus
Image of Maat Mons- the highest volcano on Venus. Taken with radar since the temperature and pressure destroy any probes that land on the surface.

21. Earth Earth is unique because
It has lots of liquid water (not just frozen or gas forms)
Life is found here.

22. Mars Features of Mars Ice caps (on N and S poles)
Volcanoes (largest in the solar system –taller than 3 Mt Everests and wider than Hawaiian island chain)

23. No Oceans (may have lots of frozen water or even salt water below the surface)
No life (yet…)
A thin atmosphere of mostly carbon dioxide
Seasons (it has a tilted axis like Earth)
2 moons
No hot temperatures (range is -125C to 35C)

24. The Outer Planets

25. Outer Planets
Large in size
Made of gas
Have rings
Have many moons

26. Jupiter Jupiter’s atmosphere: Hydrogen and helium
If Jupiter were a little larger, it may have turned into a small star

27. We closely study Jupiter’s moons
Studying these moons add to the knowledge about the origin of Earth and the rest of the solar system

28. Saturn’s rings are made out of particles of …
Ice and rocks

29. Uranus
Rotates on its side- A collision with another object probably tipped it over.

30. Neptune
Discovered in 1846
Methane gases give Neptune it’s blue-green color

31. Dwarf Planets

32. Dwarf Planets http://www. youtube. com/watch
Orbit the sun, but have not “cleared the neighborhood”- no clean path around Sun
Be spherical in shape, but small

33. Identify reasons why Pluto is different from the other outer planets
Only has a thin atmosphere, other outer planets have thick atmospheres.
Only outer planet with a solid, icy-rock surface

34. Orbit of Pluto

35. Planet Names http://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/append7.html
Scale sizes of solar system:
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